Birmingham  is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alabama and is the county seat of Jefferson County. 

It also includes part of Shelby County. The population of the city is 242,820 as of the 2000 census, and 
229,424 according to the 2006 estimate. 

The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, as of the 2006 census estimates, has a population of 1,100,019. 
It is also the largest city in the Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman Combined Statistical Area, colloquially known as 
Greater Birmingham, which contains roughly one quarter of the population of Alabama.

Birmingham was founded in 1871, just after the U.S. Civil War, as an industrial enterprise. 

It was named after Birmingham, the major industrial city of England. Through the middle of the 20th century, 
Birmingham was the primary industrial center of the Southern United States. 

The astonishing pace of Birmingham's growth through the turn of the century earned it the nicknames 
"The Magic City" and "The Pittsburgh of the South". 

Much like Pittsburgh in the north, Birmingham's major industries centered around iron and steel production.

Over the course of the 20th century, the city's economy diversified. Though the manufacturing industry 
maintains a strong presence in Birmingham, other industries such as banking, insurance, medicine, publishing, 
and biotechnology have risen in stature. 

Birmingham has been recognized as one of the top cities for income growth in the United States South with an 
significant increase in per capita income since 1990.

Today, Birmingham ranks as one of the most important business centers in the Southeastern United States 
and is also one of the largest banking centers in the U.S.

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OTHER POPULAR DESTINATIONS IN ALABAMA

Athens
Auburn
Bessemer
Birmingham
Cullman
Decatur
Dothan
Eufala
Florence
Foley
Gadsden
Greenville
Gulf Shores
Huntsville
Madison
Mobile
Montgomery
Opelika
Orange Beach
Oxford
Pelham
Prattville
Scottsboro
Selma
Thomasville
Troy
Tuscaloosa